Friends gearing up for rally across eight countries in five days for Wellingborough charity

Stephanie Weaver

A group of friends are getting ready to take on the challenge of eight countries in five days in a Honda Accord.

The rally will see the Not So Touring team travelling through England, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Germany, Austria and Italy.

The Honda Accord

But as well as visiting attractions popular with petrolheads along the way, including the Nurburgring and the Ferrari Museum, they will also be raising money for Niamh’s Next Step.

The Wellingborough-based charity was set up to raise awareness and money for research into neuroblastoma, the childhood cancer which Niamh Curry died from when she was just five in May 2012.

The Not So Touring team is made up of James Pettit from Kettering, Will Li from Milton Keynes and Matthew Almond and Chris Kennedy from Northampton.

Matthew said it is the team’s second time on the rally raising money for Niamh’s Next Step, but with different members from when they first did it in 2015.

The team are supporting Niamh's Next Step

And he added: “We have chosen this charity because firstly it’s a local charity to us all and brings awareness to such a harsh yet unknown form of cancer.”

The team is taking part in the Motoscape Rally 2017, a road trip around Europe which is billed as the ‘ultimate banger rally experience.’

The idea is to buy a car for £500 or less, turn it into a wacky, eye-catching masterpiece and drive it along some of the greatest roads in Europe.

Not So Touring’s car is a Honda Accord worth £400 and they are hoping it will get them to the finishing line.

Once they have finished working on the car and ahead of starting the rally on September 5, the team is planning to drive it to different events to gain more interest and raise awareness for Niamh’s Next Step.

And they are really grateful for the support received so far, with a message posted on the team’s Facebook page saying: “We would like to thank you all who have donated and shown your support thus far, it means a lot to us all.”

To keep up-to-date with the team and their progress during the rally, follow @notsotouring on Twitter or search for www.facebook.com/notsotouring on Facebook.